


This Right Here

by IKHoldrige73



Category: Castle
Genre: F/M, Gen, Kevin and Javi are Castle kids, family!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 05:20:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1292881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IKHoldrige73/pseuds/IKHoldrige73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meanwhile, Alexis found everything all too amusing sitting over in the couch, and she loved it. She loved every second of it. Every second of her crazy family. Every second of Javier’s playful teasing against Kevin. Every second of Kevin’s brilliant smile and soft blue eyes. Every second of her mother’s yelling and her father’s chuckles. </p>
<p>But most of all she loved them and how they made it all seem fitting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	This Right Here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Firestar385](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firestar385/gifts).



Kate slowly came back to her senses as she felt a weight pressing down on her. Brown eyes fluttered open little by little and a grin broke over her face when she saw her little girl hovering over her, red hair cascading down around her as Alexis smiled down to her mother. Snaking her arms around the little red head, Kate shifted around in her bed, trying to find a more comfortable position for both herself and her daughter.

“Good morning, mommy!” the six years old beamed down at her mother.

The brunette smiled even wider, if that was even possible “Good morning, honey! Are your brothers awake yet?”

Alexis’ tiny hand came to rest on her chin, the little girl deep in thought “Javi’s making breakfast, but I don’t think Kev’s awake yet” 

“That boy’s never going to learn the art of rising early, is he?” another figure mumbled next to Kate.

Alexis squirmed away from her mother’s grasp, maneuvering around the bed to get to her father “Maybe he got that from you, daddy! You always oversleep and walk around the house in pajamas!”

Rick’s head popped out from beneath the sheets, blue eyes sparkling lovingly up at his daughter “That’s because daddy’s proper work attire _is_ pajamas” he turned to look at his wife, smiling mischievously up at Kate “Isn’t that true, love?”

Katherine rolled her eyes, slapping her husband’s cheek lightly and pulling the sheets off her body, throwing her legs over the edge and holding out open arms for Alexis to come to her. Once the little girl’s arm were secured around her mother’s shoulder, Kate stood up from her place, sliding on the pair of pink slippers that resided on that side of the bed, before making her way out of the room.

“Why don’t we go see what your brother’s cooking? Doesn’t it smell delicious?” 

Richard listened to the conversation between his girls before it completely disappeared down the hallway, smiling to himself at how perfect his life had been lived up until now. Kate’s and his 20th anniversary was coming up soon and Alexis was nearing her 7th year of life; Javier was graduating from High School, hopefully, next year and Kevin had a whole life ahead of him after that. Gina may have said he wouldn’t amount to anything in the future after her, but this right now, felt like the greatest achievement of his life.

\--

Javier looked up from the pancakes he was flipping momentarily to greet his mother “Good morning, ma’” when he saw the little girl between her arms he threw in a “Good morning, princess” for good measure.

“Good morning, Javi” the woman came up next to him, kissed his cheek and passed a hand through his short, black hair “That smells delicious!”

Alexis agreed next to her, stretching over to kiss her brother in the cheek like her mother did, getting a chuckle out of the tanned boy “Are those chocolate chip pancakes, Javi?”

A nod had the girl squealing happily in her mother’s arms and that only enticed another small round of laughter from her older brother. A hand came to rest on Javier’s right shoulder and the boy turned to look at his father smiling down at him “Why don’t you go wake your brother up?” Rick asked, slipping the spatula out from his son’s hand “I’ll take over these”

Javier sighed and pulled on the apron he was wearing, handing it over to his father, who accepted it and swiftly put it on single-handedly. Alexis whispered something to her mother and, when Kate put her back down in the floor, the little girl was off running behind her brother “Let’s go wake Kev up!”

The eldest took the red-head’s hand, walking up stairs while chatting animatedly. The conversation died little by little as both siblings went upstairs, and when that happened, Rick turned to look at Kate, smiling widely at her as if he knew something she didn’t. Raising an eyebrow, Kate walked over to her husband, wrapping her arms around his midsection and leaning against his back “Want to tell me something, honey?”

Rick’s laughter echoed through the kitchen and the living room as it rumbled low in his chest “Why do you always know?”

“You get this look on your face that gives it away” she answers, getting on her tip toes and gracing his cheek with a short-lived kiss as she untangled herself from him. “So, what is it?”

The man turned around to face her, blue eyes meeting brown as he leaned down to peck her on the lips “You know,” he said before leaning down again to kiss her “The kids are already in summer vacations” Another kiss “And Gina won’t bother me about another manuscript until next month” Kiss “So I was thinking,” Kiss. Kiss. “Maybe,” Another kiss, longer this time “We could go on vacations”

Kate’s head draws back before Richard can kiss her again, a confused expression remaining in her face “Vacations? I don’t know, Rick. The precinct is bustling with activity at this time of the year and—“

“And,” Richard began again, shutting his wife’s objections with another chaste kiss “They can manage without the great Katherine Castle around”

Kate opened her mouth to object a second time but a high pitched scream stopped her from even _trying_ to begin the sentence. Her blue eyed son came storming down the stairs, hair dripping wet with water and his white tee clinging to his mid-section as he stomped his way into the bathroom. Javier emerged from the top of the stairs moments after, carrying Alexis in his back and smiling a devilish grin that told Kate everything that had happened up in Kevin’s room.

“You’ve got to stop tormenting your brother, Javi” Kate began, smiling sweetly “One day he might just snap and fight back, don’t you think?”

Javier only smiled wider, plopping his sister on one of the stools and sitting down on the continuous one “I’ll be out of the house before that happens”

Rick shook his head, trying to hide the smirk that was forcing its way to his face “Whether Kevin snaps or not, or whether he will when you are here or not doesn’t matter, Javier” He apparently lost the fight, because his lips curved up into a mischievous grin. Rick turned around quickly before anyone could spot it “You shouldn’t annoy your brother. End of the story”

The tanned boy sighed dramatically from his back and there was the sound of a door opening and closing before someone else joined them in the kitchen. Kevin plopped down into the stool next to his mother, kissing her cheek and muttering a ‘Good morning, mom’ between gritted teeth.

Richard turned to look at his son and smiled at him, serving him a plate of freshly baked pancakes and pouring a gracious amount of syrup over them, just like the boy liked them. His blue eyes instantly lit up and Kevin was cutting and eating the ‘heavenly food from heaven’ before Rick had any chance to serve the other three plates. Kate reached out a hand to her son, caressing his messy (and still wet) hair, earning her a syrup-dripping grin and the twinkling of blue eyes.

After her mother’s murder, Kate had always been closed off to anyone, even to her own mentor at the police academy, but somehow things had turned to be widely different for her. Now she was married to this mad man, chained to him for eternity (something she definitely wouldn’t change for all the riches in the world) and she was a proud mother to three of the most endearing children ever. Maybe it had been a tough ride after the fateful event, but Kate thought that this, right here with her _husband_ cooking breakfast and Kevin and Javi and Alexis gobbling the things down like there was no tomorrow, was perfect.

“So,” Rick began, waiting for his family to look at him; once all eyes were on him, he continued “What about some vacations?”

 

 

Rick folded another of his son’s T-shirt before rolling it and stuffing it inside the suitcase, humming a pleasant tune under his breath as he worked. Next to him, Kevin continued the tune, singing along softly as he continued to fold his clothes. His father’s humming turned into whistling and soon Kevin was belting out the song with every bit of breath he had stored in his lungs. Both blue eyed Castle failed to notice as Kate’s form leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over her chest as she took in every bit of the scene that went on before her.

The sounds must’ve made Javier curious, because it wasn’t long before the tanned boy was next to his mother, grinning at his father’s and brother’s antics. Rick twirled around to the beat of the imaginary music and, as he spotted his wife and eldest standing by the door, he jumped over to them and pulled them along to the show. Laughing, Kate sung the next part as she danced with her husband, twirling around and jumping on her tip toes to the music that blared only in their heads. Javi followed with the chorus after being coerced into it by his younger sibling, rolling his eyes as his mother squealed in delight.

According to the tanned boy, such a ‘manly man’ shouldn’t be singing boy band songs.

That didn’t stop any of them, though. Rick looked like he was having the best time of his life with that little impromptu concert they were having in Kevin’s room, twirling his wife around as they both joined together in the chorus again. Suddenly, a higher pitched squeal bounced off the walls as the last member of the Castle family entered the room, and soon Alexis was singing the last lines of the song as she jumped in Kevin’s arms and he twirled her around. Once the song was nearing its end, it was Javier who finished it, harmonizing down the last word as his youngest sibling giggled in bliss.

Kate leaned against her husband’s chest, breathing shallowly after the song’s effort. Kevin collapsed besides his bed, with little Alexis still giggling in his arms and Javier only shook his head with a small, amused smile decorating his lips.

After moments of silence, a voice piped up “Can we sing another song?”

Rick’s chest vibrated underneath Kate and she knew he was laughing without actually hearing it “Once we finish packing, we can sing the whole album if you want”

Javier only groaned, walking out of the room as he threw a “Not happening!” over his shoulder. Alexis followed after him, jumping on his back at the first chance she got and threatening him to ‘sing or else’. Kevin only looked at his father and both shared a laugh as Kate ordered them to finish the suitcase soon.

\--

Kate leant down to plant a kiss on her husband’s lips for the second time in that minute. The man smiled against her lips and kissed back lazily, tired from the plane ride over to their destination. They were currently in their bedroom at the hotel, basking in each other’s presence and thanking Javier for being the best eldest sibling ever for taking the other two to the pool. The TV was set on some random channel they had decided upon a while back, and now remained ignored as they kissed.

The woman pulled back, grinning down at her husband “I love you so much for convincing me to come”

“You deserved it” he chuckled, caressing her cheek lovingly “I couldn’t leave you inside that precinct one more minute”

Then the rest of the evening they remained in silence, listening to the TV show that was being aired at that time and just caressing each other like all the love in the world belonged only to them. In a sense, Kate knew this to be true. Her and Rick had had a complicated relationship in the past, always in that weird limbo between yes and no. All those years words had been left unspoken and touches had been refrained were now coming down to this right here. To this fancy hotel room where they were spending their vacations, not as a couple, but as a family. To their kids down at the pool, probably giving the other guests a hard time with their inevitable troublemaking skills (they were Richard Castle’s kids, they _had_ to be at least a little bit of a handful). To their home back in New York where they woke up to each other every morning after forever. To this feather-like touches and the way it made them shiver after all these years.

It all came down to this right here and none of them wanted to let go.

\--

They headed to the pool after a while went by, surprising themselves when there were very little people swimming around. When they reached Javier, who was by now sitting down in a lounge chair as he read, their son only smiled up at them and resumed with his task.

“Javi?” Kate called as she got rid of her dress “Where’s Kevin?”

The boy grinned and put his book down, slipping his sunglasses to the top of his head and turning to look at a particular spot across the pool where Kevin was chatting animatedly with a pretty blonde girl. Rick chuckled and muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like “That’s my boy!” before his wife punched him in the arm and glared at him. “What?”

“Don’t encourage it, Rick!”

“He’s fourteen, Kate! He has every right to flirt with any pretty girls he can find”

“He’s just a kid, Castle”

“A kid who’s turning into a man, _Castle_ ”

Kate opened and closed her mouth, searching for a comeback for that but came back empty. She crossed her arms across her chest, eyeing the girl who was gradually getting closer to her precious son. She was pretty, that much was obvious, but how was she? Was she nice? Educated? Who were her parents? God. Why would Castle even approve of this? Maybe her dad would hunt Kevin down and torture him because he even spared a glance at that girl! Oh, her poor baby! She’ll have to end this. _Now_.

“Javier” she called again, receiving a confused hum from her son “I want you to go and break them apart. Get Kevin as far away as possible from that girl”

The tanned boy only shook his head, putting his book down for the second time “I’m not doing that, ma” he said, standing up from his chair “He’ll hate my guts forever if I do”

Kate considered the situation and then turned around fully to look at her son “Where’s Alexis?”

Before Javi could answer, the little red head popped from behind the lounge chair, giggling as she ran to hug her mother. Katherine smiled brightly at her and pulled her closer “Honey, what do you think about that girl over there?” she asked, nodding with her head to Kevin’s general direction.

Alexis pondered for a moment before her face scrunched up in sadness “I don’t like her because Kev won’t play with me to be with her”

Kate’s smiled only grew wider (if that was even possible) “Why don’t you go and ask Kevin to play with you, then?”

“He won’t because he’s talking to _her_ ”

“Oh honey, this is Kev we’re talking about, just go ask him, yes?”

The little girl nodded and was off in a flash, leaving behind a grinning mother who turned to witness her work. Kate’s smile began to falter, however, when instead of being drawn away from Kevin the blonde only smiled wider, shaking hands with Alexis as she offered to play with her if she wanted. The read head nodded vigorously clinging to the blonde girl now that she was in the water and splashing around contentedly. Kate sighed.

“Just let him have fun, Katie” her husband whispered, putting a hand down on her shoulder and squeezing.

\--

After another hour or two of swimming and fooling around, the Castle family was walking back to their rooms to shower and change before leaving to have dinner at a restaurant Rick had made reservations for. All the way, Kevin talked excitedly about that really pretty girl, Jenny that spent the day talking to him and playing with Alexis when she came around. Kate listened half-heartedly, nodding and smiling at cue intervals or answering her son excitedly when the situation was deemed necessary.

Javier thought it was very funny and he never missed the chance to let his mother know when Kevin wasn’t listening to them.

“Mom, he was going to spread his wings sooner or later” he said, leaning in closer to whisper to her.

Kate huffed “I was hoping it was _later_ you know Javi”

“You never made such a fuss when I got a girlfriend” he continued, his tone turning accusing.

“Oh Javi, your girlfriends never last more than a week”

Javi’s mouth hung open “What makes you think _this_ ,” he said, motioning at Kevin, who was now talking to his father in the front “is going to last? They just _met_ and they don’t even _know_ if they’ll see each other again”

Just then, Kevin’s voice piped up from the front “And she’s from New York, too! Isn’t that awesome, dad?”

“Damn it”

 

 

All gathered around the table in the restaurant, the Castles remained chatting animatedly amongst themselves. While Kevin busied himself with playing with an overly-excited Alexis, Javier stole one of his brother’s French fries from his plate. When Kate noticed she slapped the back of her son’s head, making him drop the half eaten French fry from his mouth and then ordering him to replace the one he had eaten by one of his own. Rick chuckled by the head of the table, amused by both Kevin and Alexis’ antics, and Kate’s parenting methods. 

His chuckles died and only a pleasant smile was left decorating his lips, crinkling the edges of his eyes and accentuating his handsome features. Before he could stop Kate from murdering his eldest, someone came up to him and tapped him on the shoulder, effectively capturing his attention away from his family.

Standing next to him was a young girl, around the ages of 19 or 20, with wavy brown hair that barely reached her mid back and a pair of stunning brown eyes that seemed to brighten up as soon as Richard turned to look at her. “Hello, Mr. Castle” she began in a soft voice that sounded almost hypnotic “I am aware you are on vacations, and I don’t feel exactly comfortable with intruding you on your dinner, but may I say something?”

Kate looked up from her argument with Javier, in turn making Javi interested. Alexis stopped mid-sentence and gaped up at the girl standing next to her father. Kevin followed afterwards, confused as to why his sister had so suddenly stopped her ramblings. The whole Castle family was now paying close attention to the brunette, and she soon began fiddling with her fingers, awaiting an approval.

“Sure, sweetheart” It was Kate who answered instead, voice sweet and demanding at the same time “Go ahead”

The brunette opened and closed her mouth a few times, positively baffled by all the attention she was now getting, and definitely hoping she hadn’t tried this at all. Once her mind was able to form the correct sentence, her mouth seemed to take the hint and corrected itself “I just wanted to say that Mr. Castle has a very nice family”

Rick’s smile was back on his face in no time “Why thank you dear, what’s your name?”

“Nikki, sire” she cleared her throat once and the continued “Nikki Heat”

Kate was the next to address her, letting her guard down completely “Thank you, Nikki” she said, holding Javier closer to herself “That is a very nice thought!”

The girl blushed and mumbled a “You are very welcome, ma’am” before turning around and leaving, waving back at the kids over her shoulder. Rick turned back to look at his family, all kids wearing a different mask of confusion across their faces. Yes, he though, his family was definitely nice.

\--

The walk back to the hotel was nothing like the quiet Kate expected after such a long day. Minutes after having left the restaurant Kevin was already running behind Javier, screaming at his older brother about how much of a bastard he was. Alexis was giggling madly in her father’s arms, pointing at the scene before her and trying to form a coherent thought, but failing at the task. Rick’s own chuckles weren’t missing and Kate tried her hardest to get her boys to stop the chase.

Her pleas fell in deaf ears and, after a while, she gave up, choosing to listen to her husband instead of dealing with her sons. Richard was in the middle of a brilliant idea, she could tell, but only now did she actually listen to the words “…a female homicide detective! Like you, honey!”

“What?” she mumbled confused.

“My next book!” he exclaimed excitedly “That girl’s name was a book begging to be written and now I can!”

Kate eyed him curiously “I do not understand”

“Me neither!” Richard, Kate decided, was way to excitable “Isn’t that amazing? I don’t even know how it came! It just _did!_ ”

Alexis clasped her tiny hands over her father’s mouth “Shush now, daddy” she said, smiling “Enough talking for the day.”

Kate smiled brightly. Oh, how well she had taught her little girl!

\--

Finally, inside the hotel walls, Kevin had managed to catch up to his brother, jumping unto his back the first chance he got and pulling at his short hair. Javier yelped in pain as his brother’s knees dug against his sides and the smaller hands tugged at his hair. Their mother’s scream was heard a few seconds later, but that didn’t stop any of them from brawling it out in the lobby. Both had amazingly good reflexes, Kate thought almost proudly, but decided to put them to use sometime later, when neither was trying to kill the other.

Richard walked in through the doors; patience washing all over him in that particular way he had learned from the past 14 years with Javi and Kev’s constant fighting. He set Alexis down on the floor, telling her to stay put while he broke her brothers’ immature brawl. He took long, calm strides over to Kate and blue clashed against brown.

“How do you suppose we make them stop?” Kate called out, concerned.

Rick took another step “You take Kevin, I’ll take Javier”

And they did.

Meanwhile, Alexis found everything all too amusing sitting over in the couch, and she loved it. She loved every second of it. Every second of her crazy family. Every second of Javier’s playful teasing against Kevin. Every second of Kevin’s brilliant smile and soft blue eyes. Every second of her mother’s yelling and her father’s chuckles. She loved _this right here_ that enveloped her. That beautiful feeling of love and care this family provided her with. That feeling of being safe. That feeling of being strong with them. She loved their impromptu concerts and their singing voices. She loved their storytelling and random ideas popping up.

But most of all she loved _them_ and how they made it all seem fitting.


End file.
